PASADENA – Nine months after the city passed a water rate increase that most affected the biggest water users in the city, businesses are facing a tough choice: pay more or use less water.

The city’s numbers suggest that many have chosen to cut their water use. From July through February, the city reduced its usage by 13 percent, according to Nancy Long of Pasadena Water and Power.

At the same time, many in the business community feel they have been unfairly targeted, said Paul Little, president of the Chamber of Commerce.

“There’s a level of frustration out there towards government and water company employees,” said Little.

Some local business owners say they have done their best to reduce water use.

Peter Lowin, who owns Pasadena Laundry in the eastern part of the city, says his monthly bill has increased by 47 percent compared to last year.

“I don’t want to pass the price increase along to my customers,” said Lowin. “But it is such a significant increase I don’t know if I have a choice.”

Lowin said he has always tried to keep his water usage low, installing water-saving washers several years ago.

Similarly, Michael Osborn, who owns Pie ‘n Burger, said he has tried to cut back, but he can’t keep the bill down.

“Given this business climate, it’s hard to pay the extra cost,” said Osborn.

The problem, both said, is that the city’s rate penalizes users who were already using water efficiently.

City officials have acknowledged this as a problem in the past, and have asked PWP staff to look into switching to a budget-based water system, where efficient water users are rewarded.

Putting such a system into place would be complicated, said Phyllis Currie, the head of PWP.

She said that bigger water users in the city who have seen their bills go up will likely see some money back in July. If the city continues to keep its water usage at the level it has shown so far this year, it will not have to pay penalty water rates to its primary supplier, the Metropolitan Water District.

The operators of several of local golf courses said they have avoided a bill increase by drastically cutting back their water use.

Doug Colliflower, the general manager of DC Golf, which runs the Altadena and Eaton Canyon golf courses, said he has reduced grass by 30 percent to cut back on water use.

He hopes to have native plants cover that area in the future, but for now, it has left a lot of patches of dirt on the courses, he said.

David Sams, director of golf operations for the Rose Bowl Operating Company, said the Brookside Golf Course’s water bill has also stayed stable, but only because the course does not get watered for many months of the year.

“It’s a brown golf course now,” said Sams. “It’s the wave of the future.”